Craft Brewers Conference 2026

It’s Spring once again, and that means it’s time for the Craft Brewers Conference.

Last year in Indianapolis, the conversations felt focused on running better businesses—echoing what Leah Cheston emphasized in her earlier remarks: that we’re not just in the brewing business anymore, we’re in the hospitality business. That idea continues to resonate as we head into Philadelphia, but the conversation is evolving further.

Today, it’s not just about hospitality—it’s about adaptability. Breweries are navigating changing consumer preferences, new beverage categories, and an increasingly competitive landscape. The question isn’t just how to pour a great pint, but how to build an experience—and a business—that keeps people coming back.

This year’s conference in Philadelphia provides the perfect backdrop for that conversation. With its deep brewing history and vibrant modern beer scene, the city reflects both the tradition and innovation that define craft brewing today.

While the keynote speakers always set the tone, it’s often the conversations around them that carry the most weight. Thinking back to the early days of the pandemic and the insights shared by brewers across the country, it’s remarkable to consider how far the industry has come—and how much it continues to evolve. Those lessons in resilience and creativity still shape how many are approaching the future.

On the seminar front, as always, there will be no shortage of opportunities to learn—whether it’s growing and managing your business, exploring new beverage opportunities, or digging into technical and regulatory challenges. These sessions have a way of opening unexpected doors.

You never quite know where a conversation at CBC might lead. A few years ago, I came across the Hop France booth and was introduced to their Export Manager, Francis Heitz. What started as a few follow-up questions turned into a lasting friendship—and even the opportunity for my daughter to visit their operations in Alsace. That’s the magic of this conference: the knowledge gained is invaluable, but it’s the relationships that truly endure.

For me, and for Brewers Digest, CBC remains one of the most important gatherings in the craft brewing world. The networking, the exchange of ideas, and the sense of shared purpose are simply unmatched.

And of course, none of this happens without the vendors, sponsors, and the dedicated team at the Brewers Association who bring it all together year after year.

So as we head into Philadelphia, the message feels a bit different than in years past. It’s not just “start your engines”—it’s “build to last.”

Because in today’s craft beer world, the breweries that adapt, connect, and innovate will be the ones leading the way forward.

We’ll see you in Philadelphia.

Brewers Technical Review November, 1934

Why a 1934 Brewing Journal Still Matters Today

Every brewer knows that beer is both timeless and ever-changing. The recipes, the science, the gear — they all evolve, but the questions brewers wrestle with? They’re surprisingly familiar.

That’s why flipping through the November 1934 issue of The Brewers Technical Review feels a little bit like talking shop with the Siebel Staff and colleagues of yesteryear. The table of contents alone is a goldmine:

• “Filtration and Chillproof Beer” — still a hot topic for anyone chasing crystal clarity.

• “Alcoholic Fermentation Without Yeast Cells” — nearly a century before today’s buzz around acid fermentations and bio-engineered NA yeasts.

• “Bending Wood for Beer Barrels” — proof that craft and tradition never went out of style.

• “Beer and Health — Your Campaign” — yes, brewers were already thinking about how to connect beer with lifestyle and wellness back in the ’30s after the failure of the great experiment, “Prohibition”.

Reading these articles isn’t just about nostalgia. It’s about perspective. The problems brewers faced in 1934 — stabilizing beer, scaling up production, connecting with consumers — are the same ones we’re still tackling today, just with shinier tools and stainless steel tanks.

A reprint of one of these pieces isn’t just history. It’s an inspiration. Imagine pulling insights from nearly a century ago and applying them to your brewery and beer.

Because sometimes the best way forward… is to look back.

Interested in seeing a full reprint of an article from the table of contents in the archive? Let us know which sparks your curiosity and drop us a line..

Craft Brewers Convention 2025

It’s Spring, and that means it’s Convention season once again.  Last year’s CBC in Las Vegas brought many new vendors focusing on what Leah Cheston of Right Proper Brewing Company and the Brewers Association Board Chair discussed in her Welcome Address. Focusing on your business and realizing I am not just in the brewing business, but I am now in the hospitality business.  And looking at this year’s agenda in Indianapolis, I suspect that again.

This year's keynote address will be given by the husband & wife team of JC and Esther Tetreault of Trillium Brewing.  I was first introduced to the Tetreaults on a Brewbound Podcast on April 23, 2020, in the height of COVID.  It was a sobering and yet a positive interview with the Tetraults, Matt Monahan, co-founder of the Other Half Brewing, and Colin Jones, co-founder of Weld Werks Brewing, on how they were working through Covid.  Hard to believe it will be five years since COVID hit our shores and changed America, much like 911 did in 2001.  So it should be a great address to hear what they have learned these past five years and their vision going forward.

On the seminar front, like always, there are a bunch of great talks on how to grow and manage your business, new beverage opportunities, along with technical and government affairs presentations that provide great knowledge of the world of brewing. 

One never knows where these seminars can lead to.   Years ago I went to a talk given by the head brewer of the Celis Brewery, in Austin, Texas..  After the talk I had a couple of follow up questions and upon learning our family’s historic brewery from 1680 was not far from the original Celis brewery in Belgium, I became friends not only with him, but with Pierre and his daughter Christina Celis as well.  I even got to brew with them once on a visit to Austin.  Truly one of the great reasons I love attending the CBC is the knowledge one gains, in my case for Brewers Digest the networking that takes place.  Nothing quite like it in the world for Craft Brewing.

And finally, we cannot forget the great vendors, sponsors, and BA staff who help put on the CBC. Without all of their efforts, it would be impossible to host.

So in the spirit of the Indianapolis  500, “Drivers, in our case, Brewers, start your engines!” We’ll see you in Indy.